PARK CITY, Utah — Frank Langella is not necessarily the first person you'd expect to see in a movie called Robot and Frank, an independent upstart by a new director, showing at this year's Sundance Film Festival. But upon first viewing, it fits surprisingly well alongside Langella's other work (Dracula, Masters of the Universe, Superman Returns, Frost/Nixon), which has spanned almost as many genres as years. Now his career seems more surefooted than ever, and he's willing to admit, yes, there were mistakes. But that's behind him now. We spoke to the 74-year-old actor at a hotel bar about learning to trust your instincts, Roman Polanski, his many other collaborators, and his iPad.

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ESQUIRE.COM: You're very put-together. How do you keep so fit?

FRANK LANGELLA: I don't do anything.

ESQ: Nothing at all?

FL: I should do a lot more, and I try to. I think it's genetics. All of our health is basically genetics. You know, I come from good, Italian stock. Both of my parents — they didn't die old. They died at 78, but they certainly both looked younger than they were.

ESQ: You seem to enjoy working on projects that are sci-fi, like Robot and Frank, or fantasy or horror. Is that true?

FL: Not at all. I haven't done anything in horror.

ESQ: Not Dracula?

FL: Well, that was thirty-five years ago, so you can't call that a trend.

ESQ: I was also thinking of The Ninth Gate, I guess.

FL: Yes, you're right. And Masters of the Universe — things like that. No, I just go for the parts.

ESQ: This one, though, is really about aging, and how one adapts. Do you find that's on your mind?

FL: Well, it's on my mind as I'm playing the character who's dealing with it, and it's on my mind in real life, as I go into my seventies, thinking, Don't think about it, but think about it. Don't dwell on it, and don't tell yourself you can't do anything. Just keep doing everything you've always done until something is not easy to do anymore.

FL: It's called Dropped Names, and it's about the famous people I've met since I was fifteen. It started out at about a hundred people — it's now sixty-five.

ESQ: I'm personally curious about certain names, like Dolph Lundgren on Masters of the Universe. He doesn't necessarily have the reputation, but he's an incredible intellect.

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FL: We interacted rarely, because Dolph was very much involved in his fame and staying in shape, and we didn't have that much to do with each other. You know, we had scenes, but we didn't hang out. We weren't buddies.

ESQ: Another person you've worked with more recently is James Marsden. What's that been like?

FL: Well, this is our third film together — he played my nephew in Superman Returns, and then we worked together on a film called The Box, and now he's my son. So we're looking for a movie in which we can play lovers.

ESQ: I imagine Roman Polanski, who did The Ninth Gate, may have been a tougher collaborator?

FL: Roman is like a young man when he directs. He loves moviemaking as much as a first-time director would love it. And he loved the mystery of that genre, and it was just before Johnny [Depp] broke into the big — you know, the Caribbean movies and all the other movies he did. So I really enjoyed working with both of them. And I like Roman. I think the movie is a noble failure. It didn't do well, but it has so many original things, and it's beautifully shot.

ESQ: It's an exceptional film, though it's kind of a hard sell. Considering that Robot and Frank isn't expressly a commercial project, and it's by a first-time filmmaker, did you have any trepidation going into it?

FL: Not really, and not when I... Usually, what I do is, I ask to see the script, and then if I like the script, I ask if I can meet the director. So I have a face-to-face — I know who it's gonna be. If the script is good but the director is not going to honor it, I pass. But I knew when I sat down with Jake [Schreier], I was with someone who felt very deeply about moviemaking. Jake made the movie he told me he wanted to make.

ESQ: That's striking, because there was a moment in the scene where you're talking to the yuppie character, and there are these little mannerisms, and I wasn't sure if they were part of the direction or something you brought. How do you find that kind of detail?

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FL: Instinctively. It's nice that you mention that moment, 'cause I'd sort of forgotten it. But then when I watched the screening, I thought, Oh, that's a nice little extra.

ESQ: Is your process usually more intuitive or...?

FL: Yes. I do research a bit, but most of the time I like to see what's happening in the room. It makes it more exciting to see onscreen, if it's really happening.

ESQ: You just go with it?

FL: Yes, in the last couple of decades. There's far less deciding I'm going to do something, and more allowing myself to do it — realizing there isn't any right or wrong. There's just doing it. And if you're doing it with enough commitment, the audience will like watching you.

ESQ: I'm wondering, because of the memoir, do you look back at things and feel differently about them?

FL: Well, the memoir is not about me — it's about other people. But, of course, the answer to your question is yes. I try not to look back too much, but when I do, I think, I should have said yes to that, I should have said no to that, I wish I'd gone down that road, seen what happened. But I don't regret it. It's pointless.

ESQ: You seem like an actor who is now in total control of his career and his art. I'm sure that wasn't easy to come by.

FL: No, it isn't. It takes being in the profession for five decades. It takes having gone through all of the various arrogance... There's no plural of arrogance. The arrogance of youth, the insecurity, the shortsightedness of coming through it, coming through the other side of it, and realizing that we don't have any control over most things. So, you allow yourself to simply be and exist in the moment. As cliché as that sounds, it's sort of an epiphany when it comes to you, finally.

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ESQ:Robot and Frank is also very much about technology. How plugged-in are you?

FL: I'm not very plugged-in. I'm a little more, because I have children who are very plugged-in, so just now I had to ask Jake, the director, "What does this little arrow mean?" He said, "It means you just answered a message." I said, "Oh, it's that simple?" I got an iPad and a Kindle. It's easier than I thought it would be, but I don't want it to replace human interaction. It is convenient. If I want to look at four different books, there it is in this little, skinny thing. And I can do it. But I'll always have a book with me, because I love my book. It's like a best friend.

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